It's Not Enough to Have Feathers . . .

Hi . . .

 . . . You must dare to fly!  (Cass van Krah) 

So yes, I am on a feather kick.  I remember exactly how it started.  My 10 year old, Kate, found the most beautiful black and white feather on one of her many outdoor adventures and sweetly left it on my desk with a note.  The intricate details and simplicity of that one single feather was so pretty, I snapped a pic and promptly made it my cell phone "home" page. Funny enough, I went to market a week later and came across these beautiful prints on watercolor paper.  Not only does the texture of the paper stand out so beautifully, these prints capture all the details of these gorgeous feathers. Beautiful standing alone, or in a large group, these prints are such a show stopped.

I used two in Jill Pleune's music room the other day, over the mantle, and I am currently framing nine more of these for our showroom.  Cannot wait to install those !

Take a look at a few of the available options.  Happy to place an order for you !!

Install of the Day !

Hey !

I am all about the space we installed last week for Jill Pleune !  We really went from one extreme to the other - installing the boy's rooms at Lori Crowder's and them switching gears to Jill's sophisticated music room right down the road (all while backing the trucks for BHI tomorrow)  It's been crazy but so much fun.  Happens like this every Spring and have to admit I am there too wanting a change on the home front.  Something is in the air for sure. . .

Jill is awesome. There are so many elements incorporated in this space I can hardly pick my favorite thing. Working with her has been a dream.  She knows I know her style and just let's me curate her spaces for a big surprise reveal.   We started in her family room, moved to the dining room, headed into her foyer and now it was time for this front room.  Was so thrilled to have those previous rooms featured in this month's SouthPark Magazine, even making the cover !

So in this space, I started with a beautiful, yet lonely, piano and tried to create a color cohesive, comfortable and, most of all, eye catching space filled with unique objects and art that jived with the other rooms we designed.  Take a look at our shoot from Friday.

I worked in her favorite color combination of black and white.  Starting with the black walls, I searched for old and new elements.  The first pieces I found were these chairs and console (from Slate Interiors).  The console was perfect as is, the chairs were as well, covered in new white linen, but I chose to recover them in a slightly "dirty" and textured off white - I know I was being really picky here but wanted the space to have a little age.   The hunt then continued with all the art and objects, lighting and rug.

Over a little time I pulled pieces I had coveted from our showroom and then commissioned Ashton Nichols to create two new art pieces, an elephant and a nude and Keith to contribute an abstract tar circle piece.

I filtered in two black and white watercolors, fashion inspired, and a black and white beetle ink piece by Nancy Prator along with and a mirror or two.  The gold tones in the metal warm the space and age it where it needs to be. 

What a beautiful space to play.

Love this fabric we found for two pillows.

And how about these old andirons !!

I am on a feather thing at the moment and these are so so pretty against the black walls.

Another vintage table find.

And a new chandelier !

Ashton's elephant is one of my favorite things for sure !

An how about an unconventional piano bench?!

all photos by mekenzie france

Love Love - seeing this come to life was the highlight of my week.

Happy Monday.

Hot off the Press !

Hi . . .

Perfect timing !  I was thrilled to see Mekenzie's photo of Jill Pleune's family room on this month's cover of SouthPark Magazine.  It just came out as we started our install of her music room.  

Take a look . . . (click here for a closer look!)

The feature also included Ben Collins' gorgeous home in my neighborhood - Plaza Midwood !

Ben, owner of The Salins Group, has transformed his home (along with his "dream team, designer Aida Saul, architect Allan Brooks and landscape architect Bruce Clodfelter) into one of the prettiest property in the hood !  The ultimate in "standing the test of time"  this home was renovated 15 years ago.  The finishes and accessories are truly timeless.

Take a closer look at this gorgeous bath !

And also in the feature, by Blake Miller,  Meredith Jackson's home.  Located in the former Lance Cracker factory in South End, this space is far from "vanilla."  Meredith, a Charlotte jewelry designer in Myers Park clearly has an eye for interior jewels as well.

Take a look at these ceilings !

Be sure and check out the entire story and get your copy of SouthPark Magazine.  So happy to be included, and congrats Mekenzie for making the cover !!

Install of the Day !

Hey There !

Have two young boys with an adjoining bathroom?  Have two boys who need a little style in their rooms?  New bedding can help, but a little wall paper will really do the trick.  The impact of these two papers I added to these boy's rooms transformed them completely!

I think Lori Crowder is striking while hot and with all the updates we have made to her home.  Her boy's spaces had great beds but needed some pulling together and a fun color punch.  One loves dinosaurs the other loves green, both connect with a bathroom.   I wanted a cohesive look on that end of the hallway, giving them each what they wanted.  Most importantly, giving them furniture pieces that will grow with them.

The bed and bedside table for Cooper's Room were great, we just added a second bedside table and moved it all to another wall.  The bedding and rug were our starting point - he loved them, we just added to it !  New wall paper, dresser, shelf, chandelier, and windows.  Take a look at his board.

We repositioned the bed to the double window wall, painted it's backdrop pale grey.  The two side walls now have a big splash of wall paper and push pin boards and a new dresser and mirror.

The dresser and this great, industrial shelf were added.  The black hardware on both tie back to the cool new chandelier.  All these pieces will last well into the late teens with their older look.

As Cooper gets older, the dino bedding and accessories can simply be switched out for an older look.  voila !

Upholstered cornices and bamboo blinds are all boy and easy to work with.

Don't think you can put the bed in front of the windows . . . sure you can!

Nash's Room had a navy bunk and navy dresser.  All he wanted was a big dose of green!  

We decided to give it to him in this stripe wall paper and a few accents.

He also needed a better overhead chandelier and new desk.  Both with an industrial vibe as well.

Love this fun paper !

He too can switch out the bed someday for an older, maybe wood queen size and all will work.

all photos by mekenzie france

Again . . . such fun working with the Crowder's.  We will miss our dropping in on them with new, fun things !  But we do have the outside to work on . . . and Spring is coming soon here in Charlotte.